'Oh, dear, yes. You heard of him, I suppose, from Georgina. Georgina is prejudiced. He has come back to me, I am glad to say. An excellent servant, Higginson, though a trifle too omniscient. All men are equal in the eyes of their Maker, of course; but we must have due subordination. A courier ought not to be better informed than his master--or ought at least to conceal the fact dexterously. Well, Higginson knows this young person's name; my sister wrote to me about her disgraceful conduct when she first went to Schlangenbad. An adventuress, it seems; an adventuress; quite a shocking creature. Foisted herself upon Lady Georgina in Kensington Gardens--unintroduced, if you can believe such a thing--with the most astonishing effrontery; and Georgina, who will forgive anything on earth, for the sake of what she calls originality--another name for impudence, as I am sure you must know--took the young woman with her as her maid to Germany. There, this minx tried to set her cap at my nephew Harold, who can be caught at once by a pretty face; and Harold was bowled over--almost got engaged to her. Georgina took a fancy to the girl later, having a taste for dubious people (I cannot say I approve of Georgina's friends), and wrote again to say her first suspicions were unfounded: the young woman was in reality a paragon of virtue. But _I_ know better than that. Georgina has no judgment. I regret to be obliged to confess it, but cleverness, I fear, is the only thing in the world my excellent sister cares for. The hussy, it seems, was certainly clever. Higginson has told me about her. He says her bare appearance would suffice to condemn her--a bold, fast, shameless, brazen-faced creature. But you will forgive me, I am sure, my dear young lady: I ought not to discuss such painted Jezebels before you. We will leave this person's name blank. I will not sully your pen--I mean, your typewriter--by asking you to transcribe it.' I made up my mind at once. 'Mr. Ashurst,' I said, looking up from my keyboard, '_I_ can give you this girl's name; and then you can insert the proviso immediately.' '_You_ can? My dear young lady, what a wonderful person you are! You seem to know everybody, and everything. But perhaps she was at Schlangenbad with Lady Georgina, and you were there also?' 'She was,' I answered, deliberately. 'The name you want is--Lois Cayley!' He let his notes drop in his astonishment. I went on with my typewriting, unmoved. 'Provided always that the said Harold Ashurst Tillington does not marry Lois Cayley; in which case I will and desire that the said estate shall pass to----whom shall I put in, Mr. Ashurst?' He leant forward with his fat hands on his ample knees. 'It was really _you_?' he inquired, open-mouthed. I nodded. 'There is no use in denying the truth. Mr. Tillington did ask me to be his wife, and I refused him.' 'But, my dear Miss Cayley----'